Coaching decision question...

I gotta ask this question. I've watched a lot of hockey over the years & have never seen anything like this. I also know a lot of you don't care for Kevin Constantine that much, so I don't want this to turn into a Constantine bashing thread either.

That being said, Constantine makes the decision to start Leleand Irving tonight...a good decision I think because he is just flat out more talented than Mike Wall. In reality, all he's doing is giving wall a breather. So here's the game situation...1-1 tie 12 minutes to go in the 2nd period. Tips get a power play. Constantine calls timeout. At about the 1:20 mark of the power play there is a stoppage. Constantine subs in Mike Wall for Leland Irving in net. Like every one else my first thought is...Irving got hurt and said something about it during the time out. But I notice when Irving goes off he just stand by the door...in full pads/helmet...and waits. Doesn't sit down. About 30 seconds later the Tips score on the power play. Irving subs back in for Wall and finishes off a 25 save night and a 3-1 Tips win.

Anybody ever see anything like this? Anyone know what the reason behind it was? The only thing I can think of was during the Time out Constantine put some kind of Power play "play" on and Irving didn't know how to run it? Anyone else got any thoughts (without the Coach C bashing)?

BTW, in an interestinf scoring quirk....Wall gets the credit for the win despite no saves, 1 minute of play and no shots on goal. He was between the pipes when the winner was scored so he gets the win...all though Irving gets the #2 star. Weird.

I wasn't at the game tonight, as I had one of my own, but the radio guys said that the move was 100% to give the #1 power play unit a breather. Basically, they'd skated hard and got good pressure for about 50 seconds, and when there was a whistle, he did the goalie switch, which gave them time to get their wind.

They went right back out there and scored a the game winning goal.

A head scratcher at first, but it sure worked to our advantage.

What does that have to do with the goalie? The #1 power play unit doesn;t include the goalie.

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Originally Posted by Tipped Off

What does that have to do with the goalie? The #1 power play unit doesn;t include the goalie.

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By switching the goalie it is almost like giving your team a second time out. The players will have some extra time to catch their breath while the goalie warms up. It is a smart coaching move used by a lot of coaches.

interesting...but the stoppage of play didn;t last any longer because of the goalie switch. The refs put the puck in play practically before Wall got into the pipes. I've watched a lot of hockey & I've never seen this done before.

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Originally Posted by Tipped Off

interesting...but the stoppage of play didn;t last any longer because of the goalie switch. The refs put the puck in play practically before Wall got into the pipes. I've watched a lot of hockey & I've never seen this done before.

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It should've. When a new goalie enters the game it usually stops the game so the goalie and stretch and warm up. A lot of times the goalies will do this extra slow so it buys even more time for the guys on the ice to catch some extra breath, grab a drink, and listen to the last few words from the coach.

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Originally Posted by Kassian

It should've. When a new goalie enters the game it usually stops the game so the goalie and stretch and warm up. A lot of times the goalies will do this extra slow so it buys even more time for the guys on the ice to catch some extra breath, grab a drink, and listen to the last few words from the coach.

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Only if the reason the goalie leaving was he was injured

Well yes that would be one reason. But still, usually if a new goalie enters a game they give him a few seconds to stretch at the very least. Then again, I guess it all depends on when that goalie enters the game.

Watching the internet feed it bought them almost a minute because they told the refs they were switching goalies then Wall had to get all of his gear on get a drink and so on then he skates out to the crease. But they do drop the puck once hes in the crease. But what buys them the time is how long it takes him to get his gear and stuff on and skate to the crease. Were they would have ran into the problem is when they switched back had they wasted time they could have very easily got a delay of game penalty. Smart coaching move, but sucks that Irving didnt get the win even though hes the reason Everett won.

See that makes more sense. They probably didn't give him time to stretch because he took his sweet ass time getting out there. Again, that is another coaching strategy that a lot of coaches have used over the years. Again, very smart move if you ask me.